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She added that it was too early to say what any record of activity had measured on the Richter Scale.

A Northern Constabulary spokesman said: "We received a number of reports around 5.35am from residents in the Tingwall and Mossbank areas of Shetland.

"They reported hearing a bang and their houses shaking. We have no reports of any damage or injury."

Shetland Coastguard watch manager David Phillips said: "I was sitting at work early this morning when the building shook momentarily.

"We then got phone calls from members of the public who were concerned because they had heard banging and shaking.

"We have had no reports of any aircraft emergency or anything unusual happening. We are presuming it was an earthquake."

In February 2008 Britain was hit by an earth tremor that measured 5.3 on the Richter scale.

The effects were felt by people from Yorkshire to the south coast and thousands reported that their homes were violently shaken.

The epicentre of the tremor was centred on the village of Holton cum Beckering, about 15 miles northeast of Lincoln.

It was the biggest earthquake to hit Britain in 25 years.

Student David Bates, 19, suffered a broken pelvis when he was pinned under masonry in his attic bedroom in Wombwell, south Yorkshire.

The UK lies well away from the world's tectonic hot spots but still feels small tremors on a fairly regular basis.

Many of the quakes in the UK are clustered around an enormous block of rock known as the Midlands Microcraton.

This is an ancient, Precambrian (older than 590 million years) feature that runs up through Birmingham towards the Potteries.

There are a number of active faults that line the Midlands Microcraton and many of the tremors experienced on the western side of the English Midlands, up to the Pennines, are a result of rocks jostling in this area.